Tile and Flooring help

[5hift]

Hope some of the real estate/construction guys like Dave, Inrich and Jordan see this...

Visited my parents recently and found out they are re doing the tiles for all the bathrooms and main floor of house.

The tile samples the contractors are showing them for examples look straight out of the 90s. My Dad is saying he's visited many tile places and they all have piss poor/the same selection. It seems if I don't step in they will be paying a ton for 90's décor/styling.

I remember reading threads about this, but couldn't find them. Where is everyone getting tiles for home renovations these days?

Any suggestions or tips would be appreciated. Even websites with ideas/pictures I could just show them would be a help.

[yellowGTS]

There are many questions:

what style does your parents like?
where did the contractor find the samples?
what stores have they gone to look at tiles?

have they thought about going direct to tile wholesalers. There are a number of them that would sell to the public, or they would sell to contractor, but allow public to see their selections. I have had a good experience with Euro Tile in the past, they are just east of Blackfoot Trail and 42nd Ave SE.

[C_Dave45]

Sent a PM to 5hift, but I'll reiterate for others' benefit.

I would suggest they go to the wholesalers showrooms instead of retail or clearance stores. I deal with most of the major players..

Ames Tile
Julian Tile
Stone Tile West
Terra Sol
Dal Tile
Euro
Olympia

Also look at larger format tile. People are going to 24x24 and 24x48. Even on a small bathroom, the larger tile looks ultra modern. Stay away from the whole "12x24, horizontal, in a brick pattern, with an eye-level accent band" idea for your shower or tub walls. That's been done to death the past 15 years. Look to solid porcelains or glass accents if you want some "splash". An entire feature wall or vertical strip if you want to add some pop.
But there's nothing wrong with just one texture/colour tile for the entire area and then dress it up with accessories or paint colours on the walls.